Tepee

Yes, Kris, it's simply searing the meat, Then adding the packet of sauce and a cup of water, Bring to a boil, Slow simmer for 1-1/2 hours, Use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the wok now and then. Some like their rendang cooked like chan25's. I like mine drier with the chilli oil showing. This brand offers a range of other great Malaysian dishes, as close to made from scratch as possible.

Not AFTER, O Brown One, BEFORE! Check before you have the dish.

What? You think I'd throw out the oil like Ah Leung Gaw threw out the Bak Kut Teh Soup? Lapped up the rendang with some famous mantou BIL bought from some highway stop.

Rendang from Brahim's mix. DH thought I made this from scratch! Shhhhhhh....

Absolutely_ no_ tea_ leaves. Oh...you can order a side dish of stir-fried greens to go with BKT. We usually order yau mak (cos lettuce).

One more difference. The difference between the delicate skin of a woman and the tough skin of a man.

I've been using a knife. I normally look for bunches with fat bulbs because most of the dishes which need lemongrass requires the bulb part. While searching, I get scratched and you can feel these nasty scratches for days. I try to cut off as much of the razor-sharp edged leaves before I dig out a bunch.

Slightly OT, but can someone tell me how to cut them from the plant without blade cuts all over your arms?

Lemongrass has citronella in it and is soothing to irritated skin. It's also a very effective mosquito repellant, more so than citronella itself. See here. I believe that lemongrass is heaty or yeet hay. During my confinement, I had to bathe in hot water (nope, you can't add tap water which has 'wind' in it) boiled with pounded lemongrass and old ginger. It's supposed to rid you of wind, but it certainly doesn't leave you feeling very clean. Don't remind me about it.

Oh yeah...I forgot about that option. The eat-healthful side of me blocking off decadence.......

When one makes it at home, we typically use pork ribs. But, chicken can also be used which makes it chik-kut-teh, but it'll result in a different texture/taste, good for a change, though. When you eat out, you get more choices. The bowl of meat has soup in it too. But the other one, which is basically the same soup, has in it tofu pok, tofu sheets, firm tofu and mushroom...well, not all of them all the time. Serious BKT eaters don't want the soup corrupted with the other flavors. You should be able to find it in Singapore as well. Haven't been around SEA enough to know if you can find it in other places.

You threw away the soup!!!!!??????? This calls for a Lesson in Bak Kut Teh (BKT). BKT was born in the good old '60s in Klang, a hokkien-dominated town, which is, happily, just 40 minutes away. It is said that if you randomly throw a stone in Klang, it will hit a BKT stall. Famous ones are the one-under-the-bridge and Teluk Pulai BKT. BKT stalls open early and sell out early too. Don't go late or you won't get the cuts you want, which are lean meat, fatter cuts, ribs, big bone, soft bone, feet and innards. Mmm...soft bone...cartillagenous heaven........ Coming back...when you order BKT, it comes with a big bowl of the cuts (mixed or specific) you ordered and separate bowls of soup sans meat, but, with tofu pok (tofu puffs) and sometimes foo chook (bean curd sheets) and mushroom. Then, there's the side order of yau char kwai (crispy chinese cruellers); these you soak into the meat-less soup for as long as you like...the longer the soak, the softer the crueller. I like just a half-minute dip for mine. Lovely. The idea is not to taint the flavor of the meat soup.Different stalls have different styles from their secret recipes. Some make their soup clear, some more robust and heavier on spices....one seller said he used 12! Some make their meat firm, some have the meat falling off the bone. BKT is served with plain hot rice; some shops offer yam rice too. I prefer plain; yam's too heavy with BKT. And, hot freshly-brewed chinese tea. A total BKT experience. Our mothers used to bag their own mix of spices and herbs but it's now available in convenient pouches. The contents in myA1 Bak Kut Teh spices read - Angelica pepper, Aralia cordata, Sinensis, Cinnamon, Paurantii Star Anise, Astraglietc, Cigusticum, Fructus Zanthoxylum. To tell the truth, I started deciphering all that by googling, but either the names are incomplete or I looked for one name but came up with 2 or more conflicting description. I'm going to make BKT tomorrow....with 2 heads of garlic at least and a 2-1/2 hour-brew. I think I'll also add some dried scallops. Yum.

Hmm...I haven't cooked any chinese-chinese dishes with lemon-grass before. Am I glad that I'm a Malaysian! I get the best of both worlds. Lemon grass features in a lot of Malaysian dishes.

Yes, Spicy Friend, I mean Mo Tak Teng/Tak Boleh Tahan. Not to worry, I, who have a rather pampered constitution from 5-day/wk homecooking, daresay I can vouch for all the outlets I recommend in this thread; never* had a run-in with pathogens. * Should I never say never?

OK...OK...the shop is in BK5...er...will have to check out the actual address. But, I say, yet again, that it's no big deal. Rather, THE PLACE to go is Paramount Garden (Section 20)/just down the slope from SEA Park, much closer to TTDI. Find the way to Giant supermarket. There are 3 blocks of shops (East, South and West) surrounding it. To the East, is a 'cannot block' Bak-Kut-Teh with a equally awesome Kwangsi Restaurant a few doors away. The homestyle menu is limited but (wah-lau) the food is really good. A must try. May have to wait to get a seat. To the West, is a homestyle Hakka Restaurant I return to again and again. Good stuff. One or two shops away, is Yeong Dau Foo which speaks Quality. To the South, are another 2 homestyle restaurants, both corner shops. Been there too. Umm...that should keep your dad busy for a week or two.

Halloween party banquet, huh? I peered very hard at the pix of all that gorgeous food and just can't find anything looking remotely scary.....but then, I'm chinese. No food scares me!

LOL, PCL! You don't have to send your dad to my neck of the woods (which is Bandar Kinrara, Puchong, by the way) just to have a homestyle meal. They are everywhere! In every housing estate. Prices shouldn't vary more than RM10. Since I hardly cook during weekends, we've patronized many such restaurants and all the meals have been satisfactory.

A Zuccotto decorated on taking out with sifted cocoa powder (and/or confectioner's sugar) through a beautiful stencil.

Yes, by all means substitute. No difference in cooking. Chicken thighs ARE more flavorful and because of the higher fats smoother. In my family, breasts are known as Saw Jai Yoke (Silly Boy Meat in cantonese) and is consumed by children who 'knows no better'. Adults eat thighs. Er hem.

Ah Leung Gaw - Mg Goi! Yes, the fish is done the same way as my Teo Chew Steamed Fish and the salted vegetable is ham choy or salted mustard green. There's soft tofu, ginger and mushroom in the broth which is produced from the steaming, rather than an added broth. Good stuff. Kris - Tks...just playing with another interest, photography. Your contribution to the Gallery of Regrettable Foods thread are too funny; I'm sure the dishes were delicious. Old cucumber is a variety of cucumbers which we use to boil a 'cooling' soup; it cannot be eaten raw like the green varieties.

This thread is a spin-off from Carrot Top's Buy Soup, Are You Nuts? thread, where I maintained that in Malaysia, you can find a long list of food available within US$12. Since I didn't cook dinner (hey, it's Saturday!), and it was late, the 5 of us went nearby to a no-frills no air-cond restaurant, with 2 TVs and you have a choice to dine al fresco or under some cooling fans. It cost us RM28 (US$7.42) exactly, as stated on the menu...no tips, no tax, no hidden charges. White rice and chinese tea included. Will be returning to this restaurant, simply named 'Y-Y Restaurant' for their noodles (ignore spelling mistakes/translation errors/literal translations & etc..) I shall keep this thread open for future cheap eats.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to all Muslimin and Musliman! In Malaysia, festive occasions are celebrated with Open Houses. Even our Prime Minister (who lost his wife to breast cancer on Oct 20) and his ministers had one for the masses yesterday. Hmm...I'm still pondering which house to crash....with my festive greetings, of course.

I've seen in a couple of places (one of them here) that curing salt aka saltpeter aka sodium nitrite gives char siu its characteristic color.

Excuse me, am I too late? Anyway, made this 2 days ago. Recipe is from The Village Baker's Wife, but I used the technique from The Cook's Book. I really love the little tips in this book, and this one helped me to have a beautiful crack-free cheesecake. The technique involves running an oiled knife around the cake and taking the cheesecake out of the oven several times, let it cool for 10 minutes and popping it in again. Added Cointreau to the whipped cream and stabilized it with gelatin and some sugar. Sprinkled rosettes with cinnamon powder. Oh..I also added some ginger chips chopped up even smaller into the Ginger-Molasses cookie crust.

Ahh...now that you describe it, Michael, I'm thinking the recipe I followed is IT, the old-style roti. Will share when I unearth the recipe... But, my preference is roti stretched thinly so that when you fry it, it gets flaky crispy on the outside, yet having some chew left inside. Texture, texture.